Caring for People Forum coming

  • Published
  • By Lisa LaConte
  • 6th Force Support Squadron, Caring for People Coordinator
MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  The Air Force has a long standing tradition of taking care of its people and takes pride in the great strides it has made to improve quality of life. Although the Federal government is faced with budget cuts, taking care of Airmen and their families remains a high priority. Since its launch in 2009, the Air Force Caring for People Forum has evolved quickly and is now the preferred way for Air Force leaders to receive community feedback. At the conclusion of the 2010 Forum it was determined the best way to add to the success of the CfP Forum was to hear directly from Airmen and their families at the installation level by giving them the opportunity to voice their concerns or suggestions on Air Force policy and support services, or both. On June 1, the MacDill Air Force Base Integrated Delivery Systems team will conduct its first Caring for People Forum and you are invited to participate in one of the working groups.

The purpose of the CfP Forum is to strengthen support services and provide installation commanders with valuable information on issues that directly impact the quality of life experienced by Airmen and families.

"Now, more than any time in the past few years, we are operating at a high level of intensity; we are operating under budget constraints and we have fewer people to work the mission," said Col. Lenny Richoux, 6th Air Mobility Wing commander. "It's almost inevitable there will be increased stress at work, and people will carry that stress from the office to the home situation. Caring for People is an avenue for all active duty, spouses, teens, civilian employees and retirees to step up to volunteer and make a difference. I encourage all of you to seize the opportunity to be a true wingman and take care of each other."

Topics to be addressed include family support, deployment support, school support, single airman support, special needs support, Guard/Reserve support, housing support, health/wellness, and spouse communications. By the end of the day each working group will have presented its top two issues, followed by a vote on the top 10 final issues to be forwarded to the Air Material Command IDS team. The AMC IDS team will receive the top 10 issues from each base and forward those impacting at an Air Force level to the Air Force Caring for People Forum to be held in July. Issues not forwarded to the AMC IDS team will remain locally on base and be tabled for later development by the MacDill IDS team.

The MacDill CfP Forum will be held at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel Tampa Airport - Westshore with opening remarks from Colonel Richoux. Participation from a wide and diverse population from the MacDill community is essential.

The MacDill IDS team is seeking officers and enlisted, active duty, Guard and Reserve, single and married, DoD civilian employees, family members (spouses and teens 13 and older), families with special needs and retirees to ensure a successful Forum.
Active duty and civilian employee participation may be considered as an alternate duty location upon supervisor/commander approval. Free child care on the base may be available. For more information and to register, visit www.macdillfss.com and click on the HOT NEWS tab or call 813-828-0145.